The present invention relates to a connector wherein the force required for a fitting operation is reduced.
Friction between terminal fittings causes multipolar connectors to have a high fitting resistance. In order to deal with this, one connector may be provided with a lever, and the other connector provided with cam pins. The lever is moved after the cam pins have been fitted into cam grooves, the cam operation thereby reducing the force required for the fitting operation.
In this type of connector, the cam operation of the lever is used to reduce the force required for the fitting operation, and the operating force increases commensurately with the number of terminal fittings. Since connectors having several dozen terminal fittings have recently come into common use, a means is required which will further reduce the operating force.
The present invention has taken the above problem into consideration, and aims to present a connector wherein the force for the fitting operation is reduced.
According to the invention there is provided a connector assembly comprising
a first connector having first connector portions,
a second connector having second connector portions for respective engagement with said first connector portions,
a plurality of cams being provided on one of said first and second connectors, each cam corresponding with respective connector portions,
cam followers being provided on the other of said first and second connectors and for co-operation with a respective cam, such that movement of the cams draws said connector portions into engagement,
wherein said cams and cam followers have a different timing whereby respective connector portions are engaged in a predetermined sequence.
Such an arrangement reduces the peak fitting force by separating the connection sequence of the connector portions. Accordingly the initial relatively high connection force, as the terminals make initial engagement, is distributed.
The cams may be pivotable or slidable linearly. The cams may be actuated in sequence, or may define different shaped tracks. The cam followers may be engaged sequentially. In the case of pivotable cams, a control mechanism may be provided to ensure the desired movement sequence as the connectors are engaged.